by Jacobhmv London, 31/10/2014BioFilm lover, TV watcher and music enthusiast. West Ham fan to boot.

Mr. Turner - Five Reasons You'll Love It

Timothy Spall gives a powerhouse performance in Mr Turner, the new biopic about eccentric artist JMW Turner. We caught an early screening and have put together five reasons you'll love it...

Timothy Spall has never been better...

Timothy Spall raises the bar with a never-better portrayal of landscape painter JMW Turner. Throwing himself into the character for a year before filming began, Spall provides an all-encompassing snapshot that is surely the next closest thing other to Turner himself grunting his way through the film. Expect to hear Spall's name rightfully bandied around come awards season (he was awarded Best Actor at Cannes earlier on this year).

It's beautiful to look at...

Dick Pope's cinematography scintillates as Mike Leigh shoots Spall's Turner in locations where the painter actually resided and put his genius to work. Ironically, plenty of these breathtaking locations provided influence for several of Turner's illustrious paintings, thus ensuring this biographical period outing becomes quite the cinematic experience.

It's different to anything Mike Leigh has done before...

Mike Leigh, acclaimed filmmaker behind British 'kitchen sink' dramas (Life is Sweet, Secrets & Lies to name but a few), turns his masterful hand to biography in a drama whose mid 19th-century setting predates any of his previous films. Leigh has previously directed numerous actors in star-making roles (Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, etc.), but here he takes a revered character actor and instead steers him towards the performance of his career.

It's a fascinating insight into the life of a true talent...

While spanning the latter 25 years of Turner's life, the audience is provided with enough insight to ensure the film remains an enlightening foray into the world of an unconventional genius. You'll never view Turner's work in the same way once you've seen Spall spit all over them.

It's actually quite funny...

Like most of Mike Leigh's films, the comedy presented in Mr Turner derives from the harsh sense of everyday realism. Whether set in a grimy North London estate in the Nineties or a cosy 19th-century country home is irrelevant - you may be mildly astonished to find yourself chuckling as much as you will be.